[Aju News DB]
South Korea's scandal-ridden President Park Geun-hye picked a former opposition heavyweight as her chief secretary Thursday as public anger and calls for her resignation remained unabated.
The surprise nomination of Han Kwang-ok, 74, came a day after Kim Byong-joon, a 62-year-old scholar, was nominated as new prime minister. The scholar served as a senior presidential aide for South Korea's late liberal president Roh Moo-hyun.
Han is a career politician who served as senior opposition party members and as a top aide to Kim Dae-jung for 22 months from late 1999. Hur Won-je, a former journalist-turned-politician, was also nominated as her senior secretary for political affairs.
During his five-year tenure from 1998 and 2003, Kim Dae-jung was credited with rescuing South Korea from a financial meltdown and received a Nobel peace prize for radical improvement in cross-border ties.
Thursday's nomination reflected Park's attempt to assuage widespread public anger sparked by her controversial ties with Choi Soon-sil accused of meddling in state affairs.
Opponents, however, accused Park of calling in former opposition heavyweights to form a protective shield around her and urged the president to form a neutral and independent cabinet through consultations with opposition groups.
Aju News Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
